Cleveland Cultural Gardens
Cleveland officials have brought a bit of culture back to the city. Martin Luther King Boulevard, the home of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, recently received a much needed makeover. Now, the two-mile route between University Circle and the Shoreway is a much more welcoming showcase for the 29 Gardens that represent the heritage and contributions of the many ethnic groups who call northeast Ohio home.

Designer Dru McKeown
Running through the cultural gardens is a small stream called Doan Creek, which has also been receiving a much needed facelift thanks to the efforts of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. While work on that project continues, you may have heard that the agency's storm water control program has hit a snag. The courts put a halt on collecting customer fees to fund the program. Not to worry, though, because a local designer thinks that he may have a solution to the county's drainage problem. The fellow's name is Dru McKeown, and for his work in design, he's received a Creative Work Force Fellowship Grant, sponsored by The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture and Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Dru's story comes to us from filmmaker Paul Sobota.

The Cleveland Orchestra's Mark Williams
It's a given that the Cleveland Orchestra makes great music, but realistically, it also has to be great at filling seats, and selling subscriptions, so someone will hear that music. Accomplishing that doesn't happen in a vacuum. It all requires artistic insight, a great deal of knowledge about the music, and a good working relationship with the musicians. The person recently hired to demonstrate those qualities while working side-by-side with Music Director Franz Welser-Most, is Mark Williams, the Director of Artistic Planning.

Composer Daniel Bernard Roumain
While it can be beautiful and inspirational, European classical music doesn't appeal to everyone. Composer Daniel Bernard Roumain sees that as his opening to present another sound, and another rhythm that may speak to everyone from the guy hanging out on the corner, to the one hanging out in the corner office. His approach merges the language of Eastern-European classical music with the rhythms of his ancestral home of Haiti.